Pubdate: Sat, 04 Oct 2008
Source: Dominion Post, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2008 The Dominion Post
Contact:  http://www.dompost.co.nz
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2550
Author: Anna Chalmers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/party+pills

RECALL FOR PARTY PILLS - EXPERTS CHECK 'GERANIUM OIL' COMPONENT

Party pill retailers are being asked to stop selling some new 
generation pills following tests of a commonly found chemical in the 
drugs that has left some users sick.

The Health Ministry has instructed health boards to recall party 
drugs that contain the powdered form of DMAA. Labels on party pills 
commonly refer to DMAA as "geranium oil".

The ministry's recall notice follows concern that pill makers have 
simply swapped BZP - which was banned six months ago - for DMAA.

The substance has been described as the main "chemical that gives 
many of the new party pills their kick". It can also be found in some 
body-building supplements.

DMAA stands for 1,3 dimethylamylamine, which health officials have 
blamed for putting four users in Waikato Hospital last month.

Party pill brands, such as Sunrise, are marketed as containing 99.9 
per cent DMAA.

The substance is not a banned or controlled substance, but that is 
likely to be discussed by the Government's expert drug advisory 
committee at a meeting next month.

Though the ministry did not consider DMAA a "significant public 
health risk", it was concerned after the Waikato cases, a spokeswoman said.

A Waikato District Health Board spokeswoman said its medical officer 
of health, Dell Hood, alerted the ministry after four Thames users 
suffered an extreme reaction to the substance.

The Dominion Post first reported in May that some new generation pill 
users had been admitted to Wellington Hospital with "semi-hysterical 
type reactions".

The ministry ordered Environmental Science and Research to test the 
new pills following April's BZP ban, which it said yesterday had 
tentatively identified DMAA as an active ingredient. ESR was, 
however, still awaiting an international authenticated reference 
standard before it could formally identify the substance.

Drug Foundation director Ross Bell said the situation was no surprise 
as manufacturers were always going to come up with an alternative to 
BZP, particularly with such a lucrative market.

"Chemists and party pill makers will always stay ahead of the regulators."

Users needed good public health information as they could not rely on 
manufacturers' claims, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom